Vehicular Negligence

In Pedestrian v. Airport Shuttle Service (San Mateo Sup. Ct.), Richard H. Schoenberger and Douglas S. Saeltzer negotiated a $7 million recovery on behalf of a Bay Area pedestrian who was struck by a distracted airport shuttle bus driver. On New Year’s Eve 2014 at approximately 4:30 PM the defendant driver was driving above the posted speed limit at 40 miles per hour on Airport Boulevard in South San Francisco. In-vehicle video shows her looking first at her cell phone and then at a large electronic tablet. External cameras on the bus show the plaintiff ahead of the bus, entering a marked crosswalk when his light turned green, and the driver’s light turned red. Completely ignorant of road conditions, the driver remains focused on her electronic devices and strikes our client propelling him more than 100 feet in the air where he lands on the asphalt sustaining multiple fractures, internal organ damage and traumatic brain injury. The client’s persistent and continuing investment in rehabilitation resulted in a remarkable recovery, but still left him with cognitive dysfunction and brain injury. This horrifying experience underscores the hazards associated with distracted driving. Appropriately, the shuttle driver was later convicted of a crime for her conduct, but the criminal conviction is of little benefit to the plaintiff who remains saddled with the harms and losses caused by the driver’s negligence.